Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Writing Fears: Choosing To Self Publish



Self publishing has always been in the back of my mind, since I started writing. I met a lot of writers who are indi publishers and I’ve always admired their courage to take their writing into their own hands.

I think what has stopped me was I’m from the old school of writing wanting some big publisher to say they loved my book and give me a big check to publish it. Yeah I had that dream for years.

As I learned more about the business, I found out why a lot of people were publishing their own books. Mainly they didn’t want to sit and wait on someone to tell them their book was good enough. They believed in their work and was willing to step out and let others make their own judgment.

When you’re dealing with fear, stepping out is the last thing you want to do. You want to keep telling yourself, someone will buy your book. What you’re not telling yourself is that they won’t buy it if you don’t finish it or if you don’t submit it. For years I was that girl saying I’m writing, but not saying I’m not submitting.

I was scared to death to submit my work.

This weekend I realized I was scared to death to self publish it too.

I’m working with a business coach, LaTara Bussey and she said to me, LaShaunda you been working on this book for a while. You need to set a release date. My mind screamed, “are you crazy, no way”

It was easier to say I’m working on a book, than to sit down and schedule my book release.

Am I really ready to put myself out there?

Am I ready to see my dreams come true?

Yes

I’m still scared but I’m not going to let that stop me.

September 9th is my release date.

OMG I just wrote the date.

Pray for me because I’m starting a new journey in my life. I’m afraid but I’m holding on to the Lord’s hand this time. He will guide me every step of the way.

FEAR – get out of my way. I have dreams to work on.

Stay tune, this journey is interesting. Next week I’ll tell you what not to do when you thinking about book covers.

Why did you choose to self publish?



2 comments:

Simply Said Reading Accessories said...

I'm so with you. I have 2 books that are more than half written and it makes me mad at myself every time I look at them. Yes FEAR is a part of it, a HUGE part. But not finishing the process is making me crazy.

LaShaunda said...

Debra,

It’s easy for me to say finish the books. However I know when fear is a part of the equation it’s hard. So my advice from my own experience is to take a bite out of the elephant. I broke it up into tiny parts until I got it done. I found myself overwhelmed when I looked at the whole picture. So do a few pages a day until you finish the book. You know I want to read it, so when you’re ready for the beta reader, I’m here for you.

Thanks for reading the blog.